City Slickers

The city of Bell, California will go down in infamy as eight city officials face criminal corruption charges for “allegedly looting the city [of 35,000 residents] to pay for their astronomical salaries and generous retirement benefits.”

Now a former city official, fired as part of the criminal probe but not charged, is suing the city for 329 days of unused sick pay and vacation time, a total of $837,000 in addition to the $421,000 a year he was paid at the peak of his time with the city. He started at $90,000 in 2002, but his pay was raised over the years.

A total yearly compensation package of $1.5 million was paid to the city’s chief administrative officer, and the former police chief was paid $457,000 annually. The former police chief is suing the city for severance pay.

The city paid the biggest compensation package--$1.5 million per year--to the chief city administrator.